Russian entry victorious in Belgrade; Teräsbetoni among the also-rans

Eastern Europe dominates top placings once again

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The Eurovision Song Contest is over for another year, and the caravan will move on to Moscow in 2009.
      Victory in Belgrade went to Russia’s Dima Bilan and Believe, which eventually shrugged off the challenge of three shapely women in the form of Ukraine’s Ani Lorak, Greece’s Kalomira, and the surprise 4th-placed Armenian entry Sirusho, who actually scored more “douze points” from the televoters than anyone else.
      Dima scored 272 points to win by a comfortable margin for Russia’s first-ever triumph. The country joined the Eurovision circus in 1994.
     
Finland’s heavy-metal outfit Teräsbetoni (the band’s name means “steel-reinforced concrete”) eventually sank without trace into the Sava and Danube rivers in Saturday’s final.
      This was in spite of “widespread press rumours” that it had possibly won the semi-final voting. It didn’t, as it happened, but finished in 8th place of the ten who progressed to the final.
      Missä miehet ratsastaa ("Where Men Ride") came home on Saturday night in 22nd place with 35 points, though comfortably above the bottom three countries - Germany, Poland, and the ill-fated UK, who will probably be wondering what they can do to avoid being routinely humiliated by their European chums.
     
Teräsbetoni band-members pointed out the difficulty of succeeding with a Finnish-language heavy metal entry, particularly so soon after Lordi (winners in 2006 with Hard Rock Hallelujah) had effectively milked the novelty value of this genre of music.
     
The competition was yet another triumph for Eastern Europe and for regional and "diaspora" voting. Turkish and Armenian minorities were out in force, and the "Nordic", "Balkan", "Iberian", and "Warsaw Pact" voting blocs held up well.
      Half the fun for the audiences at home was guessing (it really wasn’t rocket science) which countries would vote to give 12 points to which neighbours or former overlords. The Finns and the Swedes both gave 12 points to the Norwegian entry, while Denmark received top marks from Iceland and Norway.
      One of the few surprises of the evening was the failure of the Swedish song - which had been fancied in ante-post betting on the contest - to make any impact at all.
      Sweden’s Charlotte Perrelli finished down in 18th place, as the Norwegian Hold On Be Strong from Maria took top Nordic honours in 5th.
      Even more disturbing from the Swedish perspective was the fact that Latvia’s pirate-flavoured entry Wolves of the Sea finished six places above Ms. Perrelli, in spite of the song’s having been rejected by Swedish voters in the national qualifiers.
     
In other respects the bookmakers got it just about right: Russia and Ukraine were both strong favourites going into Saturday’s final, and the claim that eight of the top ten points-scorers would be from Eastern Europe proved more than prescient - only Norway bucked the trend.
      Advance fears about the suitability of Belgrade as a host-city proved unfounded, despite worries over Serbia’s political situation in the wake of Kosovo’s decaration of independence and the apparent threats of Serbian hostility to the gay community, which forms a large part of the travelling Eurovision audience.
      A strong police presence on the streets and suggestions to the media to avoid both touchy subjects helped to keep things in party-mode.
     
Eastern European superstar Dima Bilan will be in Helsinki on Wednesday on the first stage of a Eurovision promo tour. He is keen on expanding his popularity to the West, and has made an effort in this direction through working together with American producer Timbaland and singer Nelly Furtando.
      It was a sweet victory for the Russian, who finished second behind Lordi in 2006.
      In fact Russian entries have often been there or thereabouts in the Eurovision Song Contest since 2000, with four previous podium positions in eight recent attempts. Last year’s entry in Helsinki finished in 3rd spot.


Previously in HS International Edition:
  Teräsbetoni ride into Eurovision final (21.5.2008)

Links:
  2008 Eurovision Song Contest (Wikipedia)
  Eurovision Official Site

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